Playboy
by gossipgirl111
Summary: "He kisses the girls and makes them cry." What if Raguna was a player during the game? Rune Factory Frontier
1. Chapter 1 Innocent

Chapter One: Innocent

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Raguna fell out of bed upon hearing the loud knocks on his door and felt the sore feeling on his ass. He stood up and ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, looking in the mirror he smiled to himself.

"RAGUNA WAKE UP!"

He looked at his door and smiled to himself, '_time to start my day' _He put his shirt on and buttoned his pants and fixed himself. He deemed himself good enough and went to open the door to find….

"RAGUNA WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER THE DOOR!" Annette was standing in front of him hands on her hips, lips pouting. He smiled charmingly making her even more furious.

"I'M LATE ON MY ROUTE AGAIN!" She ruffles her bag furiously trying to find his letters for him as he watches on in amazement. She pulls out three letters and hands them to him. "I'm sorry Annette I don't have anything for you in return." She stomps her foot in anger.

"WHY CAN"T YOU JUST-" He cuts her off mid sentence by kissing her lips. Shocked by his actions and just stands there perplexed. He reaches up to cup her face and she kisses him back in return but just by shock. Just as the kiss gets heated he pulls away and steps back. Confused by his actions she stands there wishing it hadn't ended.

"Well I got things to do Annette," he shuts his door behind him and walks around her with a sly smirk on his face. Before totally leaving her there he stops and grabs her from behind moving her hair from her face. "See you later."

She feels Goosebumps rising where he touched her and shakes involuntary. Raguna lets her go and walks up the hill where the town is, leaving her stumped. He laughs to himself as he walks to his next booty call. Feeling a little bad about what he did to poor innocent Annette, he thinks about buying her a little something.

Annette raises her eyebrows in confusion. "What the hell just happened?" She shook it off and ran in the direction of her next delivery.


	2. Chapter 2 shy girl

Chapter **2 Shy girl **

As Raguna was walking up the road to the market, he ran into Cinnamon who was fishing in her usual fishing spot near his house. He looked at her bucket and noticed she didn't catch any fish yet, which was unusual for her.

"Not your day today is it, Cinnamon?" He said as he sat down next to her. A blush crept on her face and she cast her line again. "No…it isn't." He nodded and rubbed his chin.

The water was running fast through the river and the fish swam lazily in it. "It's a nice day out today." He said to her and looked up at the sky. Cinnamon looked up at the sky too and wiped her forehead on her sleeve.

"That cloud formation looks like a bunny." She said out of now where and suddenly felt shy. "Yeah it does, doesn't it?" He laughed. He looked at her and noticed how she looked in the sunlight. Her hair was a shade lighter and she was really pretty behind all that hair.

She caught on that he was staring at her. "What…is it?" She said and stared back at him. His eyes where shining brightly and he had moved closer to her so that their faces were almost touching.

She felt nervous under his stare and turned back to the water. She felt him reach up and touch her face to move a piece of stray hair and tuck it behind her ear. "Why…. did you. ….just do that?" She said to him.

"Shhh," He whispered to her and turned her face back to him.

She was so nervous she was afraid to move her body and was stuck in her place. He inched his face closer to her and closed his eyes. His lips met hers softly and stayed there. She closed her eyes too and inched her face closer molding there lips together. A small blush creeping up her face again. They pulled apart and stayed there smiling at each other.

Before Raguna could kiss her again, the line tugged on her fishing pole hard. "Ahhh!"

Cinnamon screamed, startled and jumped up to reel it in. "Come on Cinnamon! You can do it!"

She spun the lever fast and pulled the rod in. He watched with excitement and laughed at her tiny form catching the fish.

One last tug on the rode sent the fish flying out of the water and into the net Raguna surprisingly held out. Cinnamon hurried and cut the line and got the hook from its mouth. He dropped the fish into the bucket of water and watched it struggle.

Cinnamon was slightly out of breath but smiled at her caught fish anyway. "Candy will be happy that you caught dinner." He said still staring at the fish they just caught. Cinnamon squinted and sighed loudly. "Candy….doesn't like fish. She thinks eating them….is wrong." She suddenly grabbed the fish from the bucket and released it back into the water.

Raguna recoiled at that and looked at her. "Why'd you do that? After all that hard work, you just let it go?" She took her eyes from the water and grimaced from the way he was talking to her.

"I….wasn't going to cook it…..and it's an art to catch and release…them." She said in monotone and sat back down. Raguna just shook his head and waved goodbye. He got up and walked over the bridge to the town before looking back at Cinnamon.

"Weirdo." He thought and kept walking. He didn't know what just made him kiss her, but deep down inside he had regretted just calling her that.


	3. Chapter 3 Work Much?

Chapter 3 Work much?

_I dont know if you guys read the orignal chapter but I changed it because I didnt like the direction it was going in :P_ _So heres the new one! But dont worry it didnt change that much just the ending._

The town was alive with people moving in every direction. The sunlight poured over the rooftops and the wind was sweet with pie smells wafting from the Inn. There were leaves scattered on the ground and moving softly in the wind.

Raguna walked up the steps into town, slowly taking everything in. He leaned up against the large, wooden arch that was atop the steps. He saw Uzuki waving her naginata around hardly concentrating, which was odd.

He frowned at that and turned his direction to the inn. Eunice came walking out and hung the laundry on the lines to dry. She was smiling to herself and quite obliviously having fun.

'How boring,' he sighed, 'I very much dislike doing the laundry but she always has fun doing it for some reason. Maybe if I brought mine to her later she would do it for me?' He thought to himself.

He shrugged the thought off and waltzed up to Rosetta's store. Just as he was about to open the door Danny called out to him. "HEY! Wait Raguna!"

Raguna's hand was an inch away from the door handle. Danny came bursting out of his shop and had a extreme look of irritation on his face before stopping shy of Raguna. He bend down with his hands on his knees and was breathing hard.

He looked up at Raguna. "Wouldn't you rather buy something from my store?" Before Raguna could speak, Danny said "My stuff is way better than hers!" He had a look of desperation on him.

Raguna could barely contain himself. "Well Danny, I would buddy but all you have is turnip seeds and I bought fifty dollars worth of it yesterday." He said back and prided himself for not laughing as that would cause Danny to get even more upset.

Danny took a deep breath and raised himself upright. He looked Raguna square in the face and acted cool, which weirded him out. "It's cool, totally fine." He said and patted him on the his back once.

Again Raguna reached for the door but Danny turned him around and shook him. "You can't go in there! She's crazy! She-she lets bugs in her store!" He screamed loudly. Raguna couldn't take it anymore he started laughing.

Ever since Rosetta opened up her shop, Danny's store has gone under business. Because of he's crappy selection of wares and poorly organized store people soon realized the difference and stopped going to his. His only customer now is Eunice who still buys her chocolate bars there because of her small crush on him. Danny became so desperate as to ward off people going to her store.

He still held on to Raguna who was laughing hard and gave up. "DANNY!" Rosetta screamed through the open window. "STOP HARRASSING MY CUSTOMERS!" Danny stuck his tongue out to her and slowly backed up into his shop.

Once he stopped laughing he finally went into her shop. She was standing behind the counter now, hands on her hips. "Sorry about that Raguna, he just won't stop trying to make me look bad. Its driving me insane." She slammed her fingertips on the counter to emphasize her mood.

He smiled a crooked smile and looked at her softly giggling to himself. She blushed and laughed too at that crazy situation. After their laughter she straightened herself up and went over to the flowers and started clipping the dead petals off.

"So how've you been lately?" Raguna asked her first. She looked up from the flowers to gaze at him for a second before looking down. "Good I suppose, things are good at the store too. Well except for Danny being an ass."

Raguna smiled at her last comment. He looked around the store brightly light by the sunlight. He saw something that sparked his interest. An apple. Didn't Annette like apples? He did tell himself that he would get something for her.

"Hey Rosetta? What would you get someone who you've done something to that you shouldn't have?." He asked her in earnest. She seemed surprised by that question.

"Well I would get them something they liked." Raguna slumped into the chair next to the counter and sighed deeply. "Well duh, Rosetta." He rolled his eyes. She fumed and walked over to him.

"Who's it for? Is it for Mist?" She got a crazed twinkle in her eyes when she said her name. "Why are you buying something for Mist? What did you guys do?" She pointed a finger a him.

He looked at her funny, and gawked. 'Is she serious? This again!' "No Rosetta this isn't about Mist. I'm going to tell you this for the last time, I. DO. NOT. LIKE. MIST! GOD!" He said each word slowly so maybe it would register in her brain.

She fumed at this. "Well then who is it for then? If not Mist. You two have that freaky chemistry and all." She said and blushed. They were both leaning against the counter towards each other.

As they were talking, they didn't realized that Mist was outside listening in. She was standing right by the door watching their exchange.

Raguna stepped back a little and bent his head down. "Oh, my god if you must know its for Annette." She wasn't ready for that answer and was completely embarrassed. "Oh," was all she could say.

He turns around apon hearing the door slowly open and sees Mist standing there with her hand on the door and her face consrewed with hurt. She doesnt say anything and just stares at the both of them in shock. Raguna panics and wonders if she over heard him. "Mist I,"

She raises her hand in protest. "Did you mean it?" Rosetta's face loses all colour and she backs away. Raguna shuffles foward hands in his pocket. "Mean what?" He says stupidly. Mist raises her head to block the tears forming at her eyes. "I'm... not stupid Raguna. I over heard you."

Raguna rushes over to you and caresses her shoulder while she still allows him. "I didn't mean I didn't like you Mist, I just meant that I didnt see you in that way." Mist sniffs and looks over to Rosetta who's sitting in the back looking all pale. Rosetta looks at her in return. "I'm sorry I was just trying to find out who Raguna was buying something for. I guess I just got over zealous is all."

Mist holds Raguna and smiles at Rosetta. "Its okay, I guess. I just don't like it when I think people don't like me." Mist leans her head against Raguna's upper arm. "We'll always be friends right, Rosetta?" Her unknowing intentions making Rosetta jealous. Rosetta smiles back a snarl. "..Right Mist."

Mist lets go of him and walks over to give Rosetta a hug. "Great! So see you guys later!" She says once again her perky happy self. She leaves the shop and once out of range Raguna wipes his forehead. "Whoo, that coulda been bad." He shakes his head and laughs over to Rosetta, who scowls. "Its not funny. Even though I really dislike her sometimes, when I see her get that upset I try make her feel better but then I go back to disliking her and being jealous. It's really messed up, you know?."

She looks at Raguna heartfully who's attention is on a ladybug that just fell on the counter. "Who am I kidding. I'm talking to a wall." Raguna looks up and blushes. "I heard you Rosetta, dont make ME feel bad now. I just dont know what to say to that. You say she's your friend and you still act like this. If you really want to be her friend then just put all these silly, childish feelings away and be her friend. Everything will be better between you two when you do, trust me." He finishs by putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing.

She looks up at him. "Your right Raguna, I understand. Its hard but I'll try for Mist and you. Thanks." She blushes and smiles at him. "You see Rosetta I'm not that heartless, I can help other peoples problems. Its just solving my own is the problem." He laughs a hearty laugh and goes to the door.

"Wait!"

He turns around and she walks out from behind the counter and gets an apple off the shelf. "About that thing with Annette, here." She hands him the apple. He reaches to get money but she shakes her head. "It's on the house. That should make up for anything you did, she just loves apples. That and milk." She smiles in earnest.

"Thanks Rosetta."

He leans in and kisses her on the cheek. She blushes for the forth time. "See ya later." Raguna walks out the door and heads to the left pocketing the apple.

_So what did you think? I know people wanted me to start with other choices that I gave them but I had this in mind and just had to write it, sorry :) But I have something really good planned for the next chapter if you guys liked this one._


	4. Chapter 4 The act

_Sorry for the wait. I have had the whole weekend and two days that I was off because of the weather and I just now started and finished it lol_

Chapter 4 The act

As Raguna leaves Rosetta's store he sees a little boy wailing by his mother. He is screaming something he can't quite hear so he walks a little closer in their direction which is by the little river next to the stairs.

The little boy looks to be around eight and has on a white tee-shirt and tan shorts, that looks to be dirty. The mother is wearing a pretty blue dress with black heeled shoes. They both have dark hair. Raguna gets a better look and sees that he has freckles.

"Mommy I don't want to take a bath! Please don't make me!" He has tears streaming down his face and his nose is running. The mother bends down to try to fix his face but he bats her hand away and rubs his arm on his shirt.

"Ryan please quit crying, you're going to make yourself sick." She looks around to see if anyone is watching them. She takes something out of her ratty looking purse and kneels down.

"This is ten dollars Ryan, I want you to get yourself washed up and come home. Do you understand? And I will know if you buy yourself candy instead so don't even try it buster." She says to her son in the calmest voice she can muster.

Upon this the little boy cries even harder. "Your not even going in with me!?" He says a little scared.

She laughs and regrets it when he wails. "Why would I honey? You're a big boy now, you can do it." He rushes to her legs and holds on tight. "No! Please mommy come with me?"

'_I don't understand this little guy, why won't he go in by himself_?' Raguna thinks to himself. He leans against the wall behind him watching intently.

"No Ryan now come on, stop being like this and let me go." She sighs and rubs her sons head.

Raguna convinced he's had enough goes over to them. The mom sees him coming and tries to pull her son off of her. "He's just having a bad day sorry about all the commotion."

" It's quite alright, no harm done. Hey little guy what's the problem?"

"I'm scared to get a bath."

He pulls his face out of between his moms legs, and wipes his nose. She takes out a napkin from her purse and hands it to him, which he takes.

"Why?" Raguna is very confused by this.

"Because the lady in there is a witch! I'm scared she is going to cast a spell on me!" He says very seriously with wide eyes.

Raguna laughs hard and grabs his stomach.

"Its not funny! She really is one! I saw her turn the water a different color!" He turns completely away from his mom and to Raguna. The mother takes her hand to her mouth to cover her giggle.

"Little guy-"

"My name is Ryan!" Ryan interrupts Raguna just to say that.

"Well Ryan, I can tell you that Melody is not a witch and she owns the bathhouse. You must of seen her put bath salts in the water. Bath salts are for making the water smell nice."

Ryan thinks this over for a second and then stomps his foot.

"I don't believe you mister! Your just trying to get me to take a bath at the witches so she can eat me, like in that story!" The mother takes her child's shoulders and whispers in her child's ear, obliviously telling him to calm down.

"The name is Raguna, Ryan. If you don't believe me I'll take you in there myself." He offers to him sincerely.

The boy ponders this over and taps his chin with his index finger, swaying back and forth. Then he nods his head. "Mom can Raguna take me? Since HE doesn't believe me, he will just have to get eaten with me."

The mom laughs and shakes her head. "Sure go ahead honey, only if this is truly okay with Raguna." She smiles at him.

"Yes mam' its okay. I don't want him to be afraid of my friend."

She smiles gratefully and pats him on his shoulder and goes her own way, leaving Raguna with her son.

The boy smiles up at him with a huge grin. "The witch is your _friend_?"

Raguna nods and looks at him with narrow eyes. "Yep."

Then he walks past Ryan and starts on his way to Melody's bath house. He looks back to see Ryan shake his head in disgust and run to catch up with him. Raguna laughs at the boy.

"What?" Ryan said.

"Nothing you're just funny that's all."

Marco and Candy are playing tag together by Melody's and run up to them. When they reach them Candy stares at Ryan.

"Hey Raguna! Want to play?.." They both say in unison and touch him and run. Ryan looks at them sadly especially Candy and hangs his head down, which Raguna sees.

"Maybe a little later guys!." He shouts to them as they run farther and farther.

"What's wrong Ryan? Don't you like them?"

"No…its more like they don't like me." They stop right in front of Melody's.

Raguna looks at him then looks at the bath house. '_Ugh this boy has some major self-esteem problems_.' He bends down to look him straight in the eye.

"What do you mean Ryan? Do they pick on you?"

"No…well…Yes. Marco does."

Raguna sucks on his bottom lip trying to get to the bottom of it. _'I can believe that. Marco would be mean to anyone who even looks at Candy.' _He then silently laughs.

"Well what happened that made him do that?"

"When I moved here, which was two weeks ago I saw them and asked to play…"

**Two Weeks Ago**

_Ryan and his mother are unpacking their things from the wagon. His mother takes two boxes and goes into the house. _

_Ryan hears laughter and looks to see Marco and Candy playing near him. He goes over to them and they welcome him by asking questions. _

"_HEY! I'm Marco, are you new here?" _

"_Hi, I'm Candy. Its nice to have more kids around here, where are you from?" _

_He blushes at the questions and answers, " I'm Ryan and I just moved from Kardia. Are you two the only kids here?" _

_Marco answers first, "Yep. But me and Candy are the best of friends." _

_Candy blushes and wants to shrug her shoulder but doesn't. "We can all be the best of friends Ryan." Marco looks at Candy and says, "The three musketeers!" _

_Ryan laughs at Marco and punches him in the shoulder. "Your it!" He runs from them both and they follow him with Marco hitting him first. Ryan runs to catch up to Marco who runs faster than him and gives up. He turns around to see Candy behind the lamp post and runs towards her. _

_She runs away down the steps in Town and heads towards Raguna's farm. Marco who didn't notice them going the other direction wound up near the singing rocks. He gets upset and runs down to try to find them. _

"_ha-ha! I got you Candy!" She smiles at him out of breath._

"_Where do you think Marco is?" Ryan asks her. She shakes her head unsure._

_They sit down by the trees right where Raguna's monster barn is. _

"_I think he's still in town, I don't think he saw us turn around. He's probably by the singing rock, that's where he was headed." She laughs for lost Marco. _

_Ryan winces and laughs. "He shouldn't of ran so fast, I couldn't catch up to him." _

_Candy looks around to see Marco anywhere. "I hope he finds us soon. I don't want him to get upset and think we ditched him." _

_Ryan nods. "Okay just let me catch my breath." _

_Candy crosses her legs, watching him. "I'm sure glad you moved here. I mean it was nice with just Marco but its going to be so much more fun with you here!" _

"_Me too." Ryan blushes and throws grass on her. Candy laughs and retaliates. Ryan finds a dandelion and picks it and holds it out to her. "For the start of a good friendship." Candy blushes and takes it. _

"_thanks." She gives him a hug. _

_Marco who was just turning the corner sees them hugging and gets jealous. _

"_So you guys leave me to hug?" He says to them from at the bottom of the hill. _

_Candy and Ryan separate and look confused. "I'm sorry Marco we lost track of time. We were just catching our breaths from running so hard." Candy tells him. She gets up to go over to Marco who looks angry. _

_Ryan gets up after her and follows. "I'm sorry Marco."_

_Marco who was about to forgive them sees the flower in Candy's hands and gets more upset. _

"_You know what Ryan I take it back. Your not allowed to be our friend." Candy looks at him confused. _

"_What? What did I do? I said I was sorry. I didn't mean to leave you-"_

"_I don't want to here it, first you ditch me and then try to get candy to forget about me. Your not a good friend. Go back home, we don't want you here." Candy looks at Marco upset. _

"_Marco don't-"_

_Marco interrupts Candy by stepping in front of her and staring at Ryan. _

"_Go home." _

_Ryan gets very upset and has a strange feeling of wanting to hit him. He never had gotten that feeling and gets scared. He stares at Candy who looks the same and turns around and runs home. _

**Present**

After Ryan finishes his story, Raguna gets upset with Marco who should of handled his feelings better.

"So you just went home? Did you tell you're mother what happened?"

"No I didn't want her to get upset and we just moved here. I didn't want to fight with his mother." Raguna thinks, _'No she doesn't want to fight with Gansha.'_

"Well don't worry Ryan, I'll talk with Marco later. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding with him."

"Thanks Raguna."

Raguna gets up and ushers him into the Bath house. "Come on Ryan, we wasted enough time talking let's get your bath." Ryan laughs and goes through the door Raguna was holding for him.

They walk inside and the door shuts alerting Melody, who looks up from her book startled.

"Oh hello Raguna! What can I do for you?" She looks at her watch. "It's a little early for you to take a bath is anything wrong?"

Raguna has Ryan take a step forward who gulps. "It's not for me Melody, its for my friend here."

Melody looks down from her podium and sees Ryan whose face has drained all color.

"Oh my, its that kid who screamed at me and ran." She smiled down at him kindly.

Raguna couldn't help himself from laughing and Ryan looked at him mad. Raguna stops and pulls himself together and looks back at melody. "I'm sorry about that Mel, but my friend here thinks you're a witch."

Melody's eyes shoot from her sockets and she beams down at him admiringly. "He does? How sweet! That's the nicest thing anyone's ever thought about me!" Ryan's eyes get huge and almost faints.

Raguna shakes his head and slaps his forehead, and then looks down and back at Melody. He mouths to her, _not in a good way_.

Melody raises her eyebrows and feels terrible for scaring the little boy. She gets off her stool and goes over to Ryan who backs into Raguna. "I'm sorry I was just joking. I'm not a witch don't worry."

Ryan squints his eyes, "Your not going to eat me?"

Melody laughs, "I'm not going to eat you."

Ryan gets mentally and physically relieved that she isn't and feels silly that he ever thought that. But he reminds himself that she does wear the outfit of one. He then retrieves the ten dollars and hands it to her.

"Well now that, that's all sorted out, I need a bath." He tells her.

Melody takes his money and smiles at him and Raguna. She laughs to herself and gets behind the cash register and cashes his money. "Alright go to the right, and don't EVER go to your left. If you do big consequences."

Ryan blushes and heads to the right, forgetting about thanking Raguna for taking him. He strips down to his boxers and heads into the bath.

Raguna walks over to where Melody is standing. "Thanks for that."

She smiles and wipes her cheek. "Where did he get the assumption that I was going to eat him Raguna?" She giggles.

Raguna cocks his head to the right. "I think from that movie 'Hansel and Gretel'."

"Never seen it." She says surprised.

"It's a child's movie, but its kind of funny." He says to her noticing how pretty she looks with her hat.

"If it's a child's movie Raguna, why have you watched it?" She laughs at him

He smiles brightly at her. "'cause I'm a child at heart."

They both laugh and hear in the guys bathing room someone singing, "Rub a dub dub, sitting in the tub." They both shake their heads laughing at Ryan's innocence.

"By the way, Melody," Raguna says to her leaning in closer so that no once else can hear.

"I have been thinking some things about you but they weren't necessarily _nice_, if you know what I mean."

Melody's face suddenly turns a deep shade of red and she smiles coyly. She lightly punches him in the shoulder. And he continues on.

"And if I remember correctly you were doing some pretty questionable things to me not to long ago, well-" She cuts him off by putting her hand over his mouth.

"Raguna!," She says very quietly. "I thought I told you not to bring that up again!" She says rather harsh.

She still has her hand over his mouth and stares at him. He licks her middle finger to get her to move her hand. "But Mel,"

"Just don't bring that up again we were just messing around," She says still blushing and slightly aroused.

"Okay whatever you want," He moves closer to her and raises her chin. He stares deeply at her.

"Just don't pretend that you didn't like it." He kisses her quickly on the mouth before she could protest and so no one saw.

"Oh Raguna," She shakes her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

He sighs deeply and walks to the door.

"What ever you want."


	5. Chapter 5: Awakening

Chapter Five: Awakening

The sun begins to set on the town of Trampoli as Raguna watches it contently from under a tree in front of his barn. This was very rare thing for him to do on a lazy day as he would usually be found on the Whale island instead of moping around. As he was laying in the twilight of the sun he couldn't help but think of everything he did prior to the week.

'Maybe my actions have finally caught up to me and I can't handle the guilt.' He thought.

Heck no. That wasn't it. Something was wrong with him. Seriously wrong. He couldn't seem to feel his legs and arms. It was like they were numb or something. Raguna knew that only happened to him when he was poisoned by a monster.

Poisoned by a monster! That was it!

He had just been in a cave not to long ago collecting his ripe vegetables for Erik when one of the goblins had got him one good. He didn't think of it until now, but maybe that sword was poisoned?

He knew he needed to get to the hospital soon or the effects of the poison would render him a goner. Though when he had tried to stand up to walk he stumbled and fell feverishly to the ground not too far from where he had been sitting.

"…Oh no." He gasped out loud.

He reached his hand into his pocket for a antidote but all he had was a cold capsule. Now he was getting worried.

The sun had gone down real low and he doubted that anyone would be going on a walk anytime soon. The only thing he could think of was to summon a monster from the barn to carry him to the church.

Just as he was about to call his cow monster a shadowy figure walked towards his path.

"Raguna?" A small voice carried out from behind his blurry vision. The effects were starting to worsen.

"Raguna are you okay? What's wrong?" The voice said again.

He tried to speak but everything was getting blurry and he felt dizzy from the pressure inside his head and body. Raguna tried to speak but as soon as the words could escape his mouth he felt himself give in to the pressure and he thought no more.

**~A couple days later~**

Raguna woke up laying inside the hospital wing of the church. His eyes felt heavy and were hard to keep open for longer than a second. The mattress that he was lying on felt soft and warm and there was a slight breeze coming through the window about his bed. He couldn't remember anything except blacking out from the poison.

How long had he been out? Who had found him?

"He is starting to waken Lara, bring me some warm towels." Said a raspy yet nurturing voice.

"Yes mam' right away." Then he heard light footsteps fall and a door being closed.

Raguna finally opened his eyes wide to see Stella leering over him looking for any sign that he had worsened. He licked his dry lips and tried to talk but she ushered him to be still as she poured him a drink from the table next to him.

"Don't talk Raguna your mouth is probably sore and dry. We almost lost yah you know? If it wasn't for Mist that found yah lying on the road passed out you probably wouldn't be here right now." She said to him with the shake of her head and worried voice.

Mist had brought him in? How on earth could she have moved him all the way here with her skinny form?

"I. Uh-" He tried to respond but she quickly shoved the cup of ice cold water to his mouth. "Drink," was all she said.

He swallowed it gratefully and took the cup from her hand trying to sit up. The simple act of getting up made him dizzy but he remained where he was. Lara came rushing in, saw him falter, and immediately ran to his side with the warm towels and bucket.

"Here are the warm towels Stella. How are you feeling Raguna?" She placed a soft hand on the side of his face and placed the towel on his forehead with the other. The warm towel soothed his aching head and he was grateful.

Lara removed the wash cloth from his forehead and proceeded to dunk it in the steaming wooden pail on the floor. Why was it taking so long for him to recover from this? Usually he would just take a handy antidote and he would be fine in the next minute, but it apparently was not the cure this time.

The sunlight danced around Lara's face as she wrung out the cloth and placed it back on his head. She was so sweet and caring to spend most of her time at this church. After he got better he wanted to take her out somewhere to thank her for helping him.

"Lara, thank you." Raguna said as he moved his hand to hers on his forehead.

She blushed lightly at him, the corner of lips moving into a small smile. Raguna noticed she looked tired almost like she had been up most of the night, but in that moment the wariness of her features had softened. She got up and moved away to the other side of the room to pour what looked liked purple medicine into a small glass.

Stella grabbed the glass from her and brought it over to Raguna. "Here honey, drink this. With one more dose you will working on full in no time." Stella motioned for him to take the drink and he drank it all in one large gulp.

The familiar taste of grapes washed down his throat, like the poison antidote always did. They say the taste of the medicine is different for everyone and he was just glad it tasted good to him. The after taste was always something completely different though.

"Ugh, thanks Stella." Raguna said as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"Your quite welcome dear, I just hope this never happens quite as bad as it did again." She laughed.

Lara grimaced. "You know I don't like worrying about you Raguna, please be more careful out there. It never hurts to carry more antidotes and paralyze heals." She said with a huff and walked out of the room. She was always too much of a worry wart.

Already he was starting to get the feeling back in his body and was able to get off the bed without getting dizzy. Stella was still watching him move about as if he was suddenly going to collapse.

"Don't worry either Stella. I'm feeling like myself again okay?" He said to her to make her leave, which worked as she smiled at him and left the room after Lara.

So he had only been unconscious for two days to the least. He thought of all the things he had to get done before it was too late to do them. He had to talk to Erik about Annette, talk to Marco about his temper, give Annette his 'sorry I was a jerk to you' gift. Then he had to do the one thing he had been avoiding on doing, talking to Melody about what had occurred between them the other night. Things had seemed okay when he saw her the other day with Ryan, but it was just a façade. He had never meant to go that far with her when he had really liked…..

He just had to get out of the hospital. It was making him think about things he didn't want to at the moment. Why was life so damn difficult?

It didn't take him that long to walk home and the sun was still very high in the sky so he had time for the things he wanted to do. When he got to his front door he checked his mailbox for which he saw three letters sticking out just waiting to be opened. One of them he noticed was from Melody. He knew it was hers when he saw the colored parchment and its dead give away of being scented.

Raguna shivered inside hoping it wasn't what he thought it was. She wouldn't have the nerve to bring it up first. Or would she? He hoped it was just one of her forwards about her bath having new scents or a poll on which one was his favorite. He decided to open that one last.

He opened the door and threw the newly gotten letters on the table. Something smelly had reached him from the living room and it was wafting from the kitchen. He went to open the door to the fridge and saw it was coming from his spoiled milk and cheese. How long had he had that in there? Hoping the nasty smell had not affected his apple he threw away the rancid food.

Now that, that situation was taken care of he went back to the table to finally read his letters.

He opened the first one which was from Bianca asking him to deliver her some stir-fried vegetables. What was he, her maid? He rolled his eyes and cast it aside. The next one was from Ganesha, seeing if he had any spare iron he could give her. He cast a glance to his forge and knew he probably had something to give her. Now all that was waiting for him was the letter from Melody. Raguna couldn't stop staring at it with wide eyes and felt like it could look into his soul. Now he was being over dramatic. He was a man he thought, just open the damn letter!

Raguna flung his hand at the fragrant letter and tore it open.

"Dear, Raguna," He read…

TO BE CONTINUED IN SUSPENSE!


	6. Chapter 6: So much to do so little time

Chapter Six: Drama

After reading Melody's letter Raguna felt deeply troubled. He hadn't meant for her to have grown such feelings towards him and he wasn't sure how he actually felt about that. Surely he had wanted to kiss her in all those moments they had, but he just wanted to remain friends with her. Why had he done this to himself?

It seemed lately that was all he seemed to be doing was kissing everyone around him. Well not everyone. He had liked Melody and he liked spending time with her and his other friends, but why was he ruining their friendship with certain actions he wasn't ready to commit to? Like what he did with Annette.

Raguna really regretted toying with her mind like that but like he thought he really had wanted to kiss her in that moment. He had meant to kiss everyone he had in the last couple of days. Everyone except the one he truly had wanted to kiss but was afraid. Afraid of himself and the overwhelming affection for the girl who was unattainable to him.

To be truthful though he had feelings for all these girls who lived in Trampoli with him and he wasn't really sure what each of these feelings meant. Everyone was sending him mixed signals and he just needed to figure out what to do from here on out, but to be careful of not hurting anyone deeply on the way.

"Sure hearts will be broken, mine included probably. But I just want to see how everyone feels about me. I can't be the only one who feels like this?" Raguna thought deeply to himself as sat at his kitchen table gently putting down Melody's letter.

He knew however that Melody was just a friend to him. He didn't want to ruin that friendship with a relationship that probably wouldn't work out in the end.

Raguna had so much work that he needed to make up on. He looked to the clock that hung over the fireplace and saw that it was close to one o'clock in the afternoon. He still had time for everything he needed to do.

He wouldn't respond to Melody's letter just yet. Raguna knew that needed to be done in person, but when was still a matter at hand.

So with that all out of the way, Raguna got up, stretched, and walked over to his forge and grabbed a couple of his extra iron on hand for Ganesha.

Remembering that Bianca also wanted him to make her dinner he went outside to his garden and picked up the necessary ingredients. The sun was blazing hot outside so when Raguna had gone back inside he felt an immediate rush of cold air on his body.

After he was done cooking, he set out for Ganesha's Blacksmith.

Upon knocking and entering her little shop he noticed that she was no where to be seen.

"Ganesha?" Raguna called out for her.

No response.

"Ganesha! I got your letter asking about the extra iron! Hello?" He called out for her again taking a few steps inside and looking around the dark interior.

Again no response.

Maybe she went out to mine some for herself? He thought when he finally noticed a note on her forge.

"Went out to the Lava Ruins, should be back before night fall. Leave a note of whatever you need done and I should get back to you in a couple days." - Ganesha

Oh great now he felt bad. She had really needed that iron and he took forever on getting back to her. Raguna wiped the sweat off of his forehead, rubbed his eyes and sighed. He then dropped the sack of iron for her by the door hoping she would notice it when she got home.

Raguna made sure the door was shut on his way out. As he turned around to start walking down the steps he almost crashed right into Marco on his way home.

"Oh Marco! I'm sorry I didn't see you there." Raguna said while trying to right himself and keep Marco from stumbling down the stone steps.

"Oh hi Raguna." Marco said with a hushed voice.

When Raguna stopped what he was doing he finally took a look and saw Marco's face. The young boy usually always had a cheerful smile and his eyes would shine mischievously. However today he had the most unpleasant frown and the air around him seemed downcast.

Raguna knelt down to Marco to put his hand under his chin and lift his head.

"Hey buddy what's wrong?"

He seemed so prideful and embarrassed like he did not want to be seen by anyone let alone be talked to. He backed away from Raguna and hung his head low, his bandana almost falling off his head.

"I don't really want to talk about it Raguna..." Marco said.

Raguna didn't really want to leave him alone in this kind of mood and Ganesha was off in the Lava Ruins and wouldn't get home till late at night.

"I know you don't feel like talking about it now, but if you did you would probably feel better sooner you know? I think I know what this is about."

Marco's eyes light up straight to Raguna's and blushed.

"You don't know anything! I don't even LIKE Candy!" He yelled.

"Okay! I didn't say that you did though Marco. I know that this has to deal with Ryan though. What exactly happened today?"

Marco started pushing around a rock with his foot not making any eye contact with Raguna.

"Candy and I were playing by the pond when Ryan came around...Candy started talking to him and completely ignored me. They didn't even try to include me and Ryan just kept sneaking looks at me. I didn't like it." Marco's fists clenched.

"Marco you didn't hit him did you?" Raguna said to him. Raguna didn't know how else to ask him but he wanted to try to be careful with that he said to Marco to not upset him further.

"No I didn't Raguna. But I won't lie. I really wanted to though. He is trying to steal Candy away from me! She is my only friend and I-" He stopped talking and his face just kept getting redder by the minute.

"So I had Torte creep up behind Ryan and flap his wings and quack loudly! It really scared Ryan and Candy turned around and told me she never wanted to see me again. That really hurt my feelings so I went home. When I turned around she was trying to help Ryan calm down and didn't even look upset." Marco looked like he wanted to cry. "Ahh young love," thought Raguna

"Awe I'm really sorry that happened Marco, but that wasn't really nice of you to do that to Ryan. He is new here and doesn't have any friends. Candy knows that and is trying to be a friend to him. I think you should too. Maybe you should tell Candy your feelings about this as well?"

Marco's face again lit up in a frenzy.

"Hah! Me tell Candy? Pfffft. I understand that I should be nicer to Ryan and if I was in his shoes I would want somebody to be on my side to help. Not that _I_ would need it. Thank Raguna for listening to me. Tomorrow I will say sorry Ryan, but I'm not sure how things will go with Candy."

Marco wiped his face on his arm and punched Raguna on the side of his shoulder. "Goodnight Raguna see yah tomorrow!"

Raguna couldn't help but smile at the boy.

When Marco went inside his home Raguna walked down to the plaza and sat down on a bench. Today felt like a good day. The wind gently blew across his face and the weather was just right, not too hot, not to chilly. No one was outside except for him and Danny who was cat calling for people to come to see his wares. That made Raguna shake his head with shame gleefully.

Thinking about wares Raguna had the perfect idea of a gift for Mist and Stella for helping him out when he got sick. For Lara he had something bigger planned however.

He walked up to Rosetta's store and rushed inside when he saw Danny start rushing towards him with his arms wailing.

"I"LL REMEMBER THIS RAGUNAAAA!" He yelled from outside.

Raguna knew he wasn't really that upset with him for shopping at Rosetta's. He hoped *gulp*

"Why hello! If it isn't Raguna coming to my store on such a lovely day. I hope you are buying something because I'm not in the mood for window shoppers today." Rosetta said to him with a wink from behind the counter dusting the shelves.

"Oh don't you worry I was actually looking to buy some fresh flowers." He said while fumbling with turnip seed packets. Rosetta perked up and almost fell off her stool.

"Flowers? What, *ahem* Do you need flowers for? Who I mean?" Dang was she ever noisy.

"Oh for Mist.." He teased her while batting his eyelashes like he was in love.

"Mist!" She said. Her face growing red.

"...and Stella. I just wanted to thank them for helping me the other day. If it wasn't for Mist I probably wouldn't be standing here right now." He told her.

Rosetta visibly relaxed thought her eyes squinted in concern.

"Why what happened Raguna? Not overdoing it in those Ruins are you?"

"Well not exactly. It was silly really. I was tending to my garden when a monster got me with his sword and I got poisoned. I didn't think anything of it but when I got home I was very sick. Mist found me and took me to the hospital." He said to her while eating an apple he got on the shelf.

"Raguna! You need to watch out when your in there. Stock up on some antidotes so you'll always have them with you. By the way your paying for that apple." She said with a smile.

Raguna threw the apple core at her to throw it away. "...So about the flowers?"

"You do know that there is a garbage can right behind you right? And come take your pick of different types, I have some pretty ribbon they would both like wrapped with them."

He walked up to the counter and waited as Rosetta threw a bunch of combinations of flower arrangements at him. He wasn't really good at choosing so he had her pick.

"I think Mist would like these," She set aside a combo for her, "Stella does love Toy Herbs.."

A good while later Rosetta had picked and put together lovely arrangements for both Mist and Stella. "They are going to love them! Your so sweet Raguna." She said looking up at them while holding her creations. "I hope so. Thanks Rosetta you know your the best." He told her.

She smiled at him and handed the flowers over.

He gave her the money and a little extra for all the work she put into making them. She politely declined but he had insisted. She opened the cash register with a little _ding! _and deposited the money.

He winked at her and left the shop. When Raguna walked out of the shop with his flowers in hand he looked up to the blazing yellow sun and could tell it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. Time was slowly escaping Raguna and he would need to hurry to the church if he wanted to make it on time before Stella headed on out to the bar at six. He knew it could definitely make it on time, but things always seemed to pop up out of no where and before he knew it he was off doing something entirely else of what he wanted to do. Someone always needed his help.

Raguna thought he should go the short cut way and go past Melody's bath house, but he was too afraid of her seeing him and he wasn't quite ready for that talk yet.

So he started walking down towards the plaza and saw Eunice hanging some laundry by the inn.

"Hi Eunice, how's your day going?" He called up to her.

She turned around while shaking off some wet white towels.

"Oh hello Raguna! I'm doing fine and you?" She inquired.

She seemed rather busy and didn't want to be disturbed but she was too polite to say anything to him.

"Oh you know the usual. Talk to you later." He told and started walking towards his home.

"Bye!" She said and turned around to finish hanging her laundry.

As he got nearer to his house he could see Mist overlooking his field. He couldn't help but laugh to himself as he saw her admiring the turnips he had planted a while ago. That girl and her turnips.

Mist suddenly turned around and looked at Raguna having been alerted to his presence by him chuckling.

"I'll be looking forward to those turnips later Raguna!" She said with a smile.

Does that mean I'll have to give some to her now? He thought. He smiled back at her not saying anything.

He went up to her and gave her one of the bouquets, "Here Mist, these are for you. Its just a way of saying thanks for saving me the other night. I don't know what would have happened to me if it wasn't for you."

Mist looked up at Raguna with those day dreamy eyes and that bright closed lip smile of hers.

"Oh Raguna you didn't have to do this for me."

"Yes I did."

Raguna bent down a little to give her a friendly but sweet lingering kiss on her cheek.

"Awe Raguna. Your so generous!" She blushed.

Raguna smiled and said, "Those turnips should be done in a couple days, so when they're ready to be harvested I'll come by and drop some off for you."

"Okay *giggle* thanks Raguna." She told him and started walking up the hill he just came from.

"No, thank you!" He yelled so she could hear him.

He watched her walk away and was hypnotized by the swaying of her blue and white dress. Also the way the sunlight captured her figure really made her look beautiful..

He was lucky to have her as a close friend.

**To be continued.**

**A/N **

**Okay I know I haven't updated this in a while but I'm back! **


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